Job Description

Job Type: Employee

Duration in Months (for fixed-term jobs): 12

Job Family: Laboratory Support

# of Open Positions: 1

Faculty/Service - Department: Animal Care and Veterinary Services

Campus: Roger Guindon Hall

Union Affiliation: SSUO

Date Posted: August 21, 2023

Closing Date: September 01, 2023

Note: Applications will be accepted until 11:59 PM on the day prior to the Posting End Date above

Hours per week: 35

Salary Grade: SSUO Grade 10

Salary Range: $75,743.00 - $95,678.00

Position Purpose
Reporting to the Senior Director, Animal Care and Veterinary Services, the incumbent manages the Institutional Animal Care Staff Training Program at the University of Ottawa. The incumbent will ensure that ACVS staff members receive training relating to the care and use of animals in research and teaching and will ensure that the training program complies with regulatory requirements of the Animals for Research Act and the Canadian Council on Animal Care. The incumbent must ensure that all persons working with animals have knowledge of the principles of experimental animal science relevant to their area of work and that personnel have the technical skills required for the procedures they must carry out (by species) to support the research enterprise as well as an appreciation of the regulatory and ethical issues of using animals for scientific purposes in Canada.

In this role, your responsibilities will include:

• Provide strategic and operational leadership in the planning, development and implementation of the Institutional Animal User Training Program to ensure compliance with regulatory requirements.
• Identify and coordinate all initial and recurrent training for animal care staff (Veterinary Technicians and Animal Care Technicians) to ensure that necessary skills exist to successfully support animal-based research projects.
• Identify and coordinate all mandatory University of Ottawa staff training requirements for the Animal Care and Veterinary Service (i.e. Laboratory safety, biohazard safety, autoclave safety, and WHIMIS) to promote safety in the workplace. Manages the targeted development and delivery of technical staff training to assure the Animal Care and Veterinary Service is well positioned to provide technical support to research clients.
• Conduct and facilitate intensive practical hands-on skills training in basic and advanced animal handling, veterinary technical procedures and the recognition of pain and distress, to assure animal-based research is conducted with rigorous attention to animal welfare and best practice.
• Create and maintain training records for service provision, regulatory and statistical tracking purposes.

What you will bring:

• A diploma from a Canadian Veterinary Medical Association recognized Veterinary Technical program, or a combination of a diploma or a degree from a relevant scientific discipline and 5 years of related laboratory animal experience. Alternatively, the incumbent may hold a current RLAT certification with the Canadian Association of Laboratory Animal Science (CALAS or equivalent), with 10 years related laboratory animal experience.
• Sound theoretical and practical knowledge of veterinary technology, laboratory animal care, species specific disease, life cycles and behavior, the application of theory in the academic research environment, with emphasis on animal work in post-graduate university training.
• Knowledge of the statutory and institutional regulatory context of animal use and care.
• Knowledge of the practical training elements necessary to support individual research or teaching projects.
• Comprehensive knowledge and experience in the development of a training program from conception to delivery and evaluation of the program.
• Ability to effectively communicate concepts and demonstrate technical procedures.
• Bilingualism - English and French (spoken and written).

Key Competencies at uOttawa:
Here are the required competencies for all or our employees at uOttawa:

Planning: Organize in time a series of actions or events in order to realize an objective or a project. Plan and organize own work and priorities in regular daily activities.
Initiative: Demonstrate creativity and initiative to suggest improvements and encourage positive results. Is proactive and self-starting. Show availability and willingness to go above and beyond whenever it is possible.
Client Service Orientation: Help or serve others to meet their needs. This implies anticipating and identifying the needs of internal and external clients and finding solutions on how to meet them.
Teamwork and Cooperation: Cooperate and work well with other members of the team to reach common goal(s). Accept and give constructive feedback. Able to adjust own behaviour to reach the goals of the team.

The University of Ottawa embraces diversity and inclusion in the workplace. We are passionate about our people and committed to employment equity. We foster a culture of respect, teamwork and inclusion, where collaboration, innovation, and creativity fuel our quest for research and teaching excellence. While all qualified persons are invited to apply, we welcome applications from qualified Indigenous persons, racialized persons, persons with disabilities, women and LGBTQIA2S+ persons. The University is committed to creating and maintaining an accessible, barrier-free work environment. The University is also committed to working with applicants with disabilities requesting accommodation during the recruitment, assessment and selection processes. Applicants with disabilities may contact hrtalentmanagement@uottawa.ca to communicate the accommodation need. All qualified candidates are encouraged to apply; however, Canadians and permanent residents will be given priority.

Note: if this is a union position: The hiring process will be governed by the current collective agreement related to the union affiliation noted above; you can click to find out more.

If this is a front-line position with responsibilities to interact with students, selected candidates must be rated at the Low Advanced proficiency level or higher for both oral comprehension and reading comprehension in their second official language. The rating is determined by a proficiency test designed by the Official Languages and Bilingualism Institute.

Prior to May 1, 2022, the University required all students, faculty, staff, and visitors (including contractors) to be fully vaccinated against Covid-19 as defined in Policy 129 - Covid-19 Vaccination. This policy was suspended effective May 1, 2022 but may be reinstated at any point in the future depending on public health guidelines and the recommendations of experts.

University of Ottawa